"There's a huge disco ball going up here," Rob Doran told me in his Liverpudlian accent as we explored the upstairs function room at Bar One in Quinton . The room was dressed as though to host a wedding, white covers on chairs tied with neutral sash bows. The wall sconces are old fashioned, the ceiling lights too, contrasting against the trendy grey paintwork of the back bar and rejuvinated stage where the DJ booth is.
"I won't be changing those," Rob said. "I like the mix of the traditional and the modern." Rob has only been in the city for the past month, coming down from Liverpool on a whim to take control of the former Royal British Legion building on World's End Lane.
The name of the road might indicate armageddon, but Rob and his staff are looking to the future with hope. Read more: I visited cosy pub loved for Sunday roasts off the M5 and found something remarkable Sign up for the Brum Food Club free weekly newsletter for updates on what's happening in the city's food and drink scene . The entrepreneur has run businesses in the north, security firms, car washes and limousine companies.
He was visiting Birmingham for the day with a friend who "rescues British Legions, rebuilding them and reopening them as bars", he tells me, when two old ladies changed the course of his plans. "I don't know a single person in Birmingham but I turned up to have a look and within five minutes, I fell in love with it. I don't know why, it doesn't make sense because I'm a Scouser through an.